Perseus of the Selja Days
by KnightJackson18
Summary: Thousands of years ago when myths were reality, Percy Jackson is trained from childhood to a teenage warrior renowned as the champion of Nehanda. Now, he'll tackle a mission that he never was ready for. What will happen? Who will he meet? How will he rise to be a great hero immortalized.
1. Prolouge

_Time: SA 1478_

_Location: Nehanda; Northeast of the Prairie Fields_

_At 4:30 in the morning, when many were resting in the kingdom of Nehanda, King Galan was probably the only one nervous and tired. Well, him and the servants that were squirming under his gaze as he asked…_

"_Where is he?!"_

"_Outside, my lord. We had to blindfold him before he came with us and we have guards who await your orders to bring him in." The guard speaking, Hugo, managed to say that in one quick, nervous breath._

"_Well bring him in right now, or I will show you a monster tonight that none in Chania have seen." Galan said, enraged._

"_Yes your highness," one of the guards said, then under her breath, "more like your heinieness."_

_Scowling in confusion, Galan turned to the man behind him to a man he trusted more than anyone south of Adde._

"_What was that comment about heinieness?" Galan asked._

_The man put the book down and turned to his friend with an amused smirk before saying, "Heinie: posterior, buttocks. I believe, my lord, that she were calling you an ass."_

"_Any other day, there would be an execution here. Maybe I'll be kind and just give her forty years."_

"_Oh come on. It is a marvelous celebration that is occurring. Humans aren't found everyday here. You made sure of that."_

"_This is different," Galan firmly stated, letting nothing crack on the surface. "He is a boy, who I owe a personal debt. Let not your understanding of my counsel change based on that."_

"_I've never given heed to your counsel regardless, your heinieness."_

_Before the king could retort, the doors opened revealing a small boy. Completely human and yet unique…different at such a young age. Barely four and a half feet with long tangled dark hair, he would be very unnoticeable if not for his eyes. They were a green that challenged the light of even the southern crystals. They darted around the Great Halls of the palace before looking at the two men._

_Curiously, he bowed before making his way to the throne. _Polite_, thought king Galan. Before the boy came to a stop just at his feet and said with utter sincerity, "I am Perseus. Teach me how to kill, my Lord."_


	2. The Genesis of Adventure

Date: SA 1488, April

"Do you think I'm sexy baby?" Juniper asked her boyfriend Grover.

He had just got to the guard tower when she asked, so he was caught off guard before laughing like crazy, amazed that his girlfriend would even ask such a thing. She had luscious green skin with leaf green hair. Her eyes were a combination of blue and green that could only be matched by the pools of Gihon. If there was one thing he loved more than nature, it was his baby.

Before he could tell her all this, there was a bright flash that caused him to see green stars for several seconds. When his vision cleared, he found Juniper gone and on his shirt was the word _ASSHOLE_ highlighted. _Neons_, Grover thought with a sigh. It would take a lot of washes before this came out.

He now had a tough decision to make. Walk toward the eastern frontier where he knew she'd be at and apologize, or go to wash his shirt.

On the one hand, this was the girl he loved, but on the other, this _was_ his favorite shirt. He had a tough decision to make.

_Love or Shirt, Love or Shirt, Love or Shirt._

He was still debating when he was tackled by his part-time best friend (and full time pain) Percy.

"Get yourself cleaned up G-man. We got an important Braai to attend." Percy said with a smile. A Braai was a very important barbeque that celebrated the beginning of the week long name-day hunt. It was also a really bad place to be when you were in a bad dress or if you were 204 years old and didn't have a date; which was exactly why Grover was in a dilemma of either going to Juniper or washing his good shirt.

"Percy," Grover said, starting to walk with his best friend through the Citadel of Watching, "what do you do when you love two things and have to decide between them?"

"I'd put both of them together and choose the both of them."

"No, I mean like two abstract things. Like your love for hunting and love for…" Grover looked around the citadel for examples. On the top of the Paladin Glasses were small stars that powered them and allowed for surveillance throughout the kingdom. But they were a bad comparison for Percy. He didn't have an appreciation for just sitting around and watching. So he thought of the next best thing.

"… or a nerd in love with a new video game."

"I'm not a nerd. I just think _Wow Pow_ has good fighting techniques in the game I can use for training."

"I wasn't talking about you. But now that I think about it, I've seen you play that game more than train from it."

"Well I've seen you play that weird game with Juniper when you both start playing cards and the longer you play, the more clothes you take off before you go upstairs and-"

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, man. Let's keep that on the down low. These are two way mirrors." Grover said pointing up to the mirrors. When Percy looked up, he saw a face staring at them. Tall, graceful and overall gorgeous, Katie Gardner was smiling at them with sisterly amusement and warmth.

"Hey Katie. How long have you been there?" Percy said as Grover looked up, his face paling considerably.

"Well I couldn't find you guys for the Braai, so I figured you would be in here like you always are after sunset. So Grover, what was this I hear about your strip poker tendencies?" Katie asked with her brows waggling.

Grover started to pale even more. "I…well…th-that…" Grover stuttered like that for a few more seconds while Percy looked at the open roof of the citadel. The moon was shining directly above the tower. The mirrors lit up with an unearthly silver glow. It was absolutely beautiful, and it was the only time Percy willingly came here.

With the night sky becoming more apparent, Percy thought about all the people of Chania and wondered what they'd be doing right now. He wondered what his parents would be doing right now.

Then, when Grover said his hundredth, "Um," Katie interrupted him saying, "Perseus, Grover. I don't care what you're talking about. The party's starting." The bell chimes coming from the Palace center proved her point.

"I don't know Katie," Percy said, pretending to think about it. "Is it going to be nucking futz?"

Katie rolled her eyes. "The nucking futtiest." She said dryly. Percy saw a secret of hers and in order to keep him quiet, she had to go along with his jokes.

"Guys," Grover interrupted. "I don't have time to-"

"Yes you do. You always make time for boogie." Percy said shaking his hips a little.

"Yeah Grover. You got to dance." Came two more voices from Katie's mirror. She scowled as her boyfriend Travis and his brother Conner came into view. They weren't twins, but you wouldn't know that. They were both tall and skinny, with a mop of curly brown hair falling into their blue eyes.

"No dorks allowed in the mirrors." Grover and Katie said.

"We are perfectly allowed in the mirrors. Any Nehandian is." The view of Katie, Travis, and Conner started to shake and yelling came from them all as if they were wrestling with it.

Finally Travis and Conner came into view and said in perfect sync. "Hey, we're Travis and Conner and this is another edition of _WHY THE HELL ARE YOU MISSING THIS PARTY IDIOTS?!_"

They then started to change the view. Percy and Grover saw the great hall of King Galan's palace filled with innumerable people. Some were looking at them. Most just ignored them because of the music. Travis and Conner came into view again. "And now," they said, once again in perfect sync, "we give you the outside."

They walked over to the window and showed fireworks of all kinds of colors appearing. People were running around and laughing. The Braai would be starting soon.

"So now," the brothers said. "We ask again, _WHY THE HELL ARE YOU MISSING THIS PARTY IDIOTS?!_"

Laughing, Percy grasped Grover on the shoulder and said to the brothers, "We'll be there, you just save the good food for us. And don't spike the punch again."

Travis grinned and said, "I can't make any promises. Last time Katie got pretty loose. It might be nice seeing that again."

Katie got real close to him. "Try anything, and I promise you will regret it."

"But I really-"

"NO BUTS!" Percy and Katie say together.

Travis looked incredulous for a second, before bouncing back with, "All butts are good when they're all yours, Kitty-Kate."

"DON'T call me that."

Ignoring the argument that was bound to occur, Percy and Grover moved out of the tower. Percy made sure to block Grover as he tried to turn into the holding rooms where his clothes were, greatly amused that his friend still had _ASSHOLE_ on his shirt and he was going to show it at the party. Grover noticed that they were slowly making their way out of the hall to the prairie fields. The trees were finally starting to bloom now that spring was coming around. _But_, Grover thought solemnly, _this means __Tsiabe season will start soon._

Before they left they heard Katie and Travis one last time.

"Kate, you know you love that name." Travis said before clearing his throat and saying in an 'elegant' voice, "Tis is a worthy name for a girl with such sweet cheeks." Then in his normal voice, "Sweet cheeks. You know you can't resist me. I'm hot like an Ekonde and your hot like a Kissatouri. We're meant for each other."

"Ah, Bro," said Conner. "The Ekonde and Kissatouri are natural enemies."

"That's what makes our love so hot, little bro. It's volatile and unpredictable. The perfect condition for keeping any girl happy. Right, Kitty-Kate?"

Then instead of Katie getting mad at him, she smiled and said, "I know not that your 'hot' in words spoken not unnaturally false, but having the opinion of a modest women, I will say this. If I only saw thee, I would think you ugly. If I only heard thee, I would think you vulgar. If I only smelt thee, I would think you pungent. But since I know you, I also think you horrid. Tootles." She said before apparently walking away.

Travis gave an appreciative whistle. "Dang. My girl got the gift of gab down tight."

Percy and Grover started chuckling as they ran to the Hall. When they got closer, Grover asked, "Are you at least going to let me get my shirt?"

"Stop stressing Grover." Percy said, "Trend setters are always the ones who ignore the norm. Imagine if in a few thousand years they go, 'This was the great man Grover. He created the fashion of _ASSHOLE _shirts.' Doesn't that sound great?"

Grover gave his best friend a droll stare.

Percy ignored it. "Don't show her you want her. You need to exert your dominance. Maybe when she realizes the Braai is going on and she doesn't have a date she'll be quick to act right."

"Says the guy with no girlfriend and no understanding of the situation." Grover said solemnly.

"Hey! I have been risking my life for the last three years on the marches and this is the welcome you give me? Your best friend?! We should be enjoying ourselves. Come on." Percy looked out across the field and breathed in the fresh air. They finally reached the stairs of the palace and, making his ascent, Percy looked, as he always did, to the top mantle on the doorway that held a replication of the seven sacred stars. He opened the doors and walked into the grand halls.

The halls were at least six stories tall and held several sticky lamps that everyone spent the whole mourning putting up. Their light emanated throughout the entire grand room and caused the silk burnouses that nearly everyone was wearing to become more colorful and bright. It was even more beautiful than in the Citadel. The _fia__etõ _statues were set up in honor of the kings who started the great hunt: Akoye, Ganbe, and Eʋeawo. Percy wanted to be a warrior of renown just like them, which was why he made a decision long ago. A decision he would stick to tonight, come high or hell waters. Though he certainly wanted the former.

* * *

Annabeth was a good strategist, excellent knife fighter, and exceptional warrior. What she wasn't, however was a spy. When she had been drafted for the rescue mission, she had been surprised to say the least. But she wasn't daunted. This was for Thalia.

With her invisibility cap, knife, and sunblock (You never know if you'll meet a Neon guard), she was ready for what was to come. Going down the stairs of the dungeon, she paused to remember how the layout was shown on the map she reviewed.

_Three hundred yards north before a two immediate rights. Twenty yards then a hidden stairway will be to the left of you. In the darkness hidden be sure to stay against the right wall before-_

"Mike? Is that you bro?" A guard, probably human, came stumbling down. Dressed in gnome armor and a spear, he was obviously a soldier who had either just gone on leave or was just returning from it. He came close to Annabeth and for a second went completely still, as if he could since her. Annabeth reached for her dagger slowly and took slow soundless breaths. She really didn't want to shed blood tonight.

Just when she thought she might have to strike, he let loose a large fart and walked off saying, "Good one." Annabeth tried hard, very hard, to not attack him, and when he left, she turned northward with a giant scowl.

_This is for Thalia. This is for Thalia. This is for Thalia. This is for Thalia._

Annabeth knew what the plan was and had to stick with it. She reached in her pocket to make sure she still had the herbs that Taffy and Poppers made for her.

_Are you sure it will work?_ She had asked them

Poppers had been outraged to say the least. _Tried them out on the Old Lawn himself, worked perfectly fine. Even Ramshee barely managed to contain himself. That man is amazing._

Taffy, as always, had been the gentler one._ Trust us Annabeth. We all know how much Thalia means to you. If we didn't give it our best, we would be beyond ashamed._

Going on, she came upon what she really needed her herbs and dagger for. There was a group of soldiers standing guard at the corner where she would turn right. This hadn't been part of the plan. Apparently, Thalia's presence would create a need for bigger personnel.

Annabeth smiled at this. Whether two soldiers or a hundred, there were no gooks (her nickname for a gaggle of mooks) that could take on Thalia.

"Mclowthy. Get over here." One of the guards said, bringing Annabeth back to attention. A short, bowlegged guard with a helmet that barely got on his fat head came up to another guard. Taller, and more muscular, he took his helmet off to show a handsome face with dreadlocks coming down to his shoulders and turquoise eyes that would be attractive if they didn't have a bored glint in them.

Tall, dark, and handsome looked at Mclowthy and said, "Is there anything going on soon. After my shift ends I need a place to go and relax."

Mclowthy seemed to think on it before answering, "There's Juru's pub on King's street. They have great chocolate milk, Captain Bem."

"Chocolate milk? I hate chocolate milk. Do they have hot chocolate? I could go for that."

Another soldier grunted at that. Bem turned to him with a frown, "Is there a problem Donagall?"

"No sir. It's just that I've been there before. The food smells like donkey buns and the soup I got there tasted like it came from the ruined marshes up north."

Mclowthy seemed to take offense at that. "My sister works there, asshole. They're sending food to the Braai in Afraîle off the eastern coast. That's how far known they are." The guard said with smug esteem.

Annabeth sat and listened to the conversation for two hours before making her move. One thing she prided herself on was her immense patients. She found out that the guards change two people every fourteenth minute. She wished she had more time to make a plan, but tonight was the last time Thalia stayed in Ombos before being transferred.

_Remember,_ Chiron had said, _once they take Thalia away from Chania, we'll never see her again. It would be almost like sending her to Sargeras' Tower._

All of a sudden footsteps came from the top of the stairs. "Here comes Layla," said Bem. "Get ready to change Donagall."

Annabeth started to get up from her position in the corner and knew that she would have to act now why the guards changed. When Donagall rounded the corner she moved to the crowd of soldiers, stealthy like a cat woman.

"Hey," said one soldier to the incoming guard, "why do women prefer men to beasts."

"Why?" she called out from other auburn hair and a helmet.

"Because we may eat like beasts, talk like beasts, and screw like beasts. But a beast can't make a good Braai." He said. He burst out laughing, and the other men joined in. If only for fear of, from what Annabeth observed, their leader getting angry. Then a thought occurred to her.

Grabbing a pebble, she through it at his head yelling, "Boo." Bem fell to the cold floor but then got back up. His face was red like a tomato and his anger was just as hot.

"Who threw that," He said.

"It came from those three." One pointed.

"We were looking at each other, sir. No one threw that stone. We swear."

"Was it you Bitch?" He pointed at the lady.

She looked at him dryly saying, "Yes, sir. Of course I, the _**only **_female guard here, would throw a rock right after your joke."

Bem looked insulted, but refrained from saying anything else. Then Mclowthy spoke up.

"D-Do you…Do yo-you think we're being watched?" he said.

They all looked around and Annabeth saw that her plan may have failed. Thinking quickly, she moved to the end of the hall where the window's looked at to Evergreen Bay. It was the most logical place to escape, with the water's being so close and the bright turtle shell glow from the moon making it easy to conceal an escapee, but she wasn't trying to escape. She just had to make them think she was by tapping her foot extra loud.

"There is someone. They're running away." Bem said. They moved with incredible speed and formation; they left behind any trace of the drunken soldiers they had been. She then went to the door and knocked. The soldiers looked back confused and turned to the door.

"Did the prisoner get out of her chains?" A guard asked.

"I think she's waiting on whoever ran away." Bem said, then, "Mike go put her back in her chains. Gabe stay at the door with Layla."

With that command, most of the men ran down the corridor, leaving behind three guards.

One, Gabe, spoke saying, "I wonder if it's the Iken Biniki. They said he can move faster than a lion and more silent than a snail."

"Why a snail?" Layla asked, curious.

"Because snails move, like, so slow, that they, like, don't go fast."

"Grammar class just skipped you by, huh, Gabe." Layla said.

Annabeth agreed and started to move in to prevent another stupid, grammarless conversation when the guard, Mike went to unlock the door.

"That's impossible. He returned to Nehanda, It would take him at least two weeks to get here," said Mike.

Annabeth got closer to them as the guard Mike pressed his hands towards the door and started to trace a pattern on the door.

"Well if someone comes we have to make sure to be on guard," said Layla.

"Uh," said Gabe. "I thought I would be able to take a break. Of course someone would break in on my shift."

Layla grunted. "I just got here. If I hadn't traded with Kevin, I would be blissfully unconcerned with all of this."

Mike had finally drawn the symbol… and it made Annabeth's heart stop. On the door was the dreaded mark of the Breaker.

_What are these guys really into?_

Pushing her curiosity for later, she got ready to make her move. As Mike opened the door and walked in, Annabeth catapulted over him and slammed the brunt of her dagger into his head. Then she grabbed him and threw him into Layla. With the distraction, Annabeth quickly ran to Gabe to deliver a kick to the face, but he caught her.

"An invisible opponent, huh?"

Annabeth went to give him a straight kick to the face, but he dodged it again and slammed into her. Getting up, he just enough time to simultaneously summersault over Gabe while also grabbing his head. Using the downward force of her body, she lifted him over her head and threw him at the wall. A small trace of blood fell from her forehead, but it was nothing compared to the splatter near Gabe's face. Proud of herself, but also slightly uncomfortable (she always hated the sight of blood) she made her way inside the room when she found what she was looking for. Or rather who.

Thalia Grace.

In any other circumstance, her name would have matched her appearance, but here, on the floor in dirty black rags and a sunken face bound by chains, she didn't seem graceful at all.

_Please be okay Thalia. You're my best Friend. I couldn't make it without you._

Annabeth pulled Thalia up from the floor and realized that she was unconscious. Taking off her cap, she rematerialized on the visible plane. Picking Thalia up, she began to walk slowly trying to remember the way to the exit the guards thought they kept a secret and would never think she would go.

Rounding another corner, she came upon the stairwell that led to the trash keep bay. Just as she was about to descend, soldiers, two of them, came and tackled her. Pulling Thalia off her, they started kicking them both for no reason. It was a few painful moments before she realized that the stench of one of the guards was like Gabe's. When she opened her eyes she found Gabe smiling sadistically at her.

Not letting up his kicking by any means, Gabe began to speak nonetheless, saying, "Thought you could hit me and escape, huh? Didn't you wonder how I sensed you before? I got senses like a 'jani little girl, especially with my nose. It's why I'm called smelly Gabe."

Annabeth could have thought of a million reasons why else they would call him that, at not a few of them had bad language, but knowing that would get her nowhere, she continued to stay on the ground and remain conscious for as long as she could. Just when she was about to receive another kick to the stomach, she felt the air hum for a millisecond before blue sparks that could rival a sapphire neon's glow erupted throughout the hall. One second the guards were smiling and kicking, the next they were on the ground, groaning and rolling around in agony.

Annabeth got up uneasily before looking at the girl before her. Gone were any hints of depression or surrender in those light blue eyes. Now, there was only dry amusement as she looked into Annabeth's cloudy grey eyes with mock anger.

"The next time you put me into an ass kicking situation, make sure you wake me up first."

* * *

Percy was always nervous when he had to attend the Braai as a boy prince. All the Qinixi and Neons had seemed so much more larger and distant. Many of them had never seen a human so they were always weird around Percy. Now, he had no doubts. He was taller than a good amount of the people and he was a warrior that had helped protect Nehanda for years.

With these thoughts, Percy strode up to King Galan with long earned confidence. After doing a mandatory bow, Percy turned to the crowd and announced in a grand voice he used to start every Braai, "Let's get this motherfucker moving y'all."

Everyone started cheering and moving around. Two orange neon boys were setting a bug on fire. A small girl was trying to capture fireflies with her brother. As soon as she grabbed it, the bug sparked her hand and she let go. Laughing, her brother came and grabbed it with a glove he was wearing and put it in a jar with several others. Walking around, Percy talked at many people and made the kind of jokes his father would be proud of and his mother would wash his mouth with soap for.

He made his way to the throne when a fairy fell through the window.

She was obviously drunk off her tiny sparkling booty. She batted her eyes at Percy and got into a drunk girl stance.

"Hey, Handsome. You want to dance." Percy didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he stuck his index finger out. She grabbed it and it made him feel weird. It was like a tiny tickle bomb went off in his hand and wouldn't stop. After a few minutes, the feeling got to weird he let go.

"Sorry," he said.

"Oh, it's okay. This is how my species mates. I'm surprised you didn't pass out already." She then gave him a hot onceover. "You got a lot of endurance don't you big boy. This was a personal record for me."

She then giggled and floated away. Thoroughly creped out, he made a beeline for his king.

It wasn't until he got to the throne were King Galan that he got nervous. What he was about to ask for was a big-

"Dick."

Percy turned around to find Grover glaring at him.

"You kept me away from Juniper on purpose. And you made fun of her to make her ask me. You hurt her self-esteem."

"Okay. First, I don't know what you're talking about G-man. Second, I just thought you needed to let loose with the guys for a while. Third, I didn't insult her, I just suggested that maybe she could stand to lose a few leaves. And fourth, it's called **self**-esteem. I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did asshole. But you are making that up tonight," Grover sighed. "I just talked to Conner. He said that he got a new shipment of chocolates in and Teddy is going to play music while you apologies and keep me from staying with Juniper's doghouse.

"And what if I don't want to?" Percy challenged.

_Oh there is a million ways to make you want to,_ Grover thought. But because he loved Percy, he decided to go with the least painful option. "If you do, I can talk to King Galan so that you can bring me on the quest your about to ask the King for. I can't believe after all of our adventures, you still think you have to get me away from my girlfriend to get my help. You know I got your back, fo eva."

Percy looked Grover in the eye for a seconds before punching him in the arm. "Stop with all this touchy feely stuff. If your man enough to go with me on a danger, then you better act like it."

Grover almost hit him back, but then stopped. This was Percy's way of saying, _Of course I want you to come. Thanks Man._ He just wasn't in to saying it. You had to live with him, fight with him, yell at him, and give him a few slaps upside the head for a few years before you started to truly understand Percy.

Percy walked over to the King on his throne and bowed, then getting up, he looked the King in the eye.

"Dad. I have something to say."

The king looked at his foster son with warmth. "Yes son."

"It's really important."

"Are you sad?"

"No."

"Are you tired?"

"No."

"Did you get a girl pregnant?"

"No."

"Are you gay?"

"No."

"Do you just want to waste my time?"

"Sometimes. Not this time. Dad?"

"Yeah."

"Will you stop asking questions?"

"No."

Percy groaned and took a deep breath. Looking at his father again, he said, "Dad. I want a quest. A huge quest to go around and explore Chania."

"No."

Percy blinked, not sure if he heard right.

"What do you mean no? I've been out there trying to defend the borders of Nehanda for years and you say no! I think I've earned a few months to go and look for something other than dog's wandering into our _Ancient Protected Kingdom,_" Percy said with a lot of sarcasm on that last part.

King Galan looked grim and became silent. Percy knew that when that happened he should probably shut up, but he was mad and the glowing throne room did nothing to calm him.

"I've devoted my whole life to this kingdom. Please tell me one reason why I shouldn't go on one."

"ONE!" roared the king, shocking almost everyone in the room. "I"LL GIVE YOU THREE! YOU"RE IMMATURE, YOU ACT TO QUICKLY, AND YOU DON"T DO THINGS FOR THE SAKE OF NEHANDA! YOU ONLY KILL MONSTERS TO TAKE REVENGE FOR YOUR HOME! YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE AND IF YOU TRY YOU ARE BANASHED!"

Stunned silence fell throughout the room. Though laughter could still be heard from outside. Then Percy, prince of Nehanda, turned and walked out the room. No one dared to stop him.

Grover ran after his brother, while everyone else tried to go back into uneasy conversation.

* * *

After taking out everyone that came near them, Thalia relaxed on a hill of fried soldiers. Annabeth however, wanted desperately to keep going.

"Hey," Thalia said. "You try spending a month held captive with them depriving you of anything electronic. This place looks like it was built during the Year of the Gardens."

It was true. All around them, there were only lamps made from lighted candles and stone walls. It seemed weird that Ramshee hadn't come with her. He loved places like this. It was where he thrived most. For her however…well, a nice Wi-Fi signal would be great for her GPS. She didn't know where they were supposed to go.

Thalia got up and started stretching. "Well, I guess we just need to take a dip in Evergreen River huh."  
Annabeth gave her a disbelieveing look. "You do know that to get you out, I made it looked like we were over there. They've probably alerted the entire castle we to look over there. Besides. We need to keep out identities secret."

"**You** need to keep your cover. And with that cap, you'll be just fine. I on the other hand am known to have escaped and I have no problem with giving them my signature." She started to make the air around her hum with electricity. Then as quick as a flash, she grabbed Annabeth and sparked them over to the window. Without thinking, Thalia jumped in with Annabeth right behind her.

"Cheese Chiami, Thalia. I thought we were going to drown."

"Well, we didn't thank goodness. Now, where are we going?"

Annabeth checked her GPS. "The closes council supporter is in Claymore. We'll stop there, and whatever will be will be."

Thalia nodded and laid on her back in the water, thinking, _Whatever will be will be._

*Line Break*

"Percy," Grover called. Percy kept walking. After calling for him several more times, Grover decided to just walk besides his friend for a while.

When they got back to Percy's room, Grover sat quietly while he looked at Percy get his water sword from under the bed. Then grab a star pocket book off his desk. When he started to the door again, this time Grover was standing in his way.

"Where are you going?"

"Away. Since he doesn't want me here, I guess I'll go somewhere people will appreciate my help."

"He does Percy. We all do. It's just that he also has problems. Ombos is in rebellion, our people are nervous about the Crypt Lord. King Mayor is thinking of retiring and appointing a new King. Even Claymore is having problems. Fanghorn couldn't even get our shipment of swords in because they have been fighting monsters constantly."

"Well, we'll be able to solve that problem soon. We're off to Claymore to get me a sword."

"We? I'm not going anywhere. I'll get executed the moment I step back on this land. What you need to do is just calm down and-"

"Hey Percy," Travis said as he, Conner, Katie came into the room. "We're sorry about what happened. King Galan will calm down."

Percy turned from them all. He hated being embarrassed. He just wanted to leave and see what happened.

"I'm going guys. I need to show him I'm not impulsive." He looked at all of their unflinching gazes. "Whatever happens while I'm gone, keep me up to date. I'll be taking a crystal with me."

He started to turn away when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Grover's intense stare, as if he was having an internal debate. Than finally, he said, "Your my brother Percy. For better or for worse, we took the _Frère_ oath. I'll always be with you."

Percy had to keep from hugging him. The more time they wasted, the more time he wasted on his grand adventure.

After packing up some travel gear, Percy and Grover went to their horses with Katie, Travis, and Conner behind them.

Getting on, Percy and Grover said their last goodbyes to their friends and then sped on to Claymore. And whatever would be would be.

* * *

**Hey thanks for reading. I really hope I can create a nice fantasy world for these characters. I love the Percy Jackson books but I wished it was set in a fantasy world of myths instead of a contemporary setting, so I decided to make this story. Please offer any tips for me as I write this story. It is part one of a four part story and I want to get parts one and two done by the end of summer break. Now that I'm (basically) done with school, I can start updating a lot more frequently.**

**And don't worry about all the confusing terms. I have this story planned out and I promise that these terms with be explained. For now, remain in mystery about my mysterious language. ;)**


	3. Out of Season

Annabeth walked with pace of a predator as they made their way up from Evergreen Bay. It had been a long night and all Annabeth wanted to do was rest, but she knew better. There would be soldiers all over this place looking for them so they needed to hide in the town up ahead.

"Thalia, keep up." Annabeth called to her friend who was struggling to match her speed.

"I'm…not…use…to trudging…this much," Thalia said in exhaustion.

"Well we got to keep going, there should be a town a few more miles from here."

"A few miles," Thalia whined. "Annabeth let's rest, it's a beautiful day."

Annabeth looked around and sighed. _It is beautiful,_ she thought bitterly. The trees were enormously tall and the river cast a shadow on the trees that, when mixed with the glow of the sun, was breathtaking. Still they had a mission and they could appreciate nature somewhere else. She turned to tell Thalia this but saw that she was nowhere to be seen. She turned and started to run up the hill – hoping to get a better view from up high. Still, the more she went up the hill, she felt she was only getting more lost.

_Thalia, where the hell are you?_

"THALIA," yelled Annabeth. "IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR PASTY, GOTH, HIPSTER ASS OUT HERE I'LL-"

Annabeth broke off as she realized that yelling the name of an infamous escapee in the middle of the woods was not smart. Then again, since she had known Thalia for so long, she was bound to be infected with her stupid and crazy. Eccentric tendencies, as Thalia would say.

Deciding on a more quiet approach, Annabeth took her invisibility cap and a small diamond she got for the mission. Putting on the cap she moved east into the direction she had last seen Thalia.

After a few minutes she found a tree that was taller than all the other ones. She climbed up and when she got to the top she looked around in shock. Although she knew she had gone far, she couldn't see Evergreen Bay as anything other than a rough outline. What's more she got a good view of just how tall the hill was. It seemed more like a mountain now, because she was at least several hundred feet in the air. And that was without the tree she was on. She put the diamond she held on the tree's top and immediately an earthquake erupted.

_This isn't supposed to happen_, Annabeth thought. The crystal was supposed to draw energy from the area and shoot a timed flare from the top. This would give Annabeth enough time to climb down and find a place where she wouldn't be found by trackers, but could still see Thalia if she came.

Instead the crystal erupted and knocked Annabeth from the top branch. Only years of intense training kept her coordinated enough to grab a branch as she fell. But this wouldn't last long. The momentum of her fall made the branch almost snap in two.

Thinking fast, she swung to another branch and when her foot landed on it she made a quick hop to the tree below her. Landing semi-comfortably on the leaves she hid in them and patted her head to make sure her invisibility cap was still on. She had a tendency to get it knocked off during moments like these and she really needed to stay invisible.

It was there, but the moment she finally started to relax, a blanketing darkness fell on her and before she knew it, she was unconscious.

* * *

When Annabeth came too, she noticed two things. First and most important, Thalia was sitting next to her looking worried. Second, they were in a weird cave. It was a grey stone encirclement with a small hole high above them that let in the sunlight. Annabeth checked below them for a lava, because it felt like they were in the middle of a volcano.

"Well, sleepy heads finally up."

"Not in the mood Thalia. I just had a diamond explode and I'm still trying to get the shards out of my mouth. Were are we?" Annabeth asked.

"In the sanctuary of Laf. He wanted to cool down before meeting you officially."

"Cool down from what."

"Well you messed him up bad and he's trying to get over it. Oh, here he comes now."

Annabeth wasn't sure what Thalia was talking about. There were no doors to enter in. Annabeth looked warily at the hole above to see if someone jumped down, but then a rumble came from under them. They looked to the corner of the room where a door had opened up. Out came a man whose skin switched from dark brown to the stone grey that surrounded them. When he looked at Thalia, he smiled. Annabeth, however, was given a hard and stern face.

"So you're the one who almost killed me with that crystal," He said, waggling his finger at her.

"Looked, I don't know who you are. I was just trying to set off a beacon diamond. I don't know why it matters to you." The guy seemed mad. An instant later, he went from a five foot nine average build guy to a towering tower of stone towers. He was now in his grey skin, but was almost 12 feet tall and rippling with muscles.

"I AM A HILL GIANT," Laf thundered. "I WILL NOT HAVE MY ENERGY TAKEN WITHOUT A FIGHT. YOU WILL NOW DO A QUEST FOR THE INSULT YOU HAVE DON-."

He was cut off by an arc of thunder that went throughout him. Billowing in rage and, to Annabeth's shock, amusement, he turned to Thalia. "I was just messing with her. Calm down."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "He likes messing with people," Thalia said to Annabeth. "When he took me, he tried to act like he was top shit too. But I showed him he was just shit. No numbers attached."

"How," Annabeth asked, more confused than ever, "did you two meet again?"

Thalia's face brightened. "Well, remember how I was talking about resting. Well when you were looking around I sat down and was about to bust out my good old Thalia charisma." She said with a grin while Annabeth rolled her eyes. "But as I sat down, a hole opened up and I fell in. I woke up with him over my face and saying-"

"Wait," Laf said, "let me say it. You're going to ruin it. Okay, so I looked into her eyes and I knew that she was thinking, 'Cheese Chiami, this guy is like totes, superfly manhunk. Let's make out.' So of course since I had nothing better to do I-" Again Thalia let loose an arc of lightning to shut him up.

"He asked me, 'If you want to sit on my face, don't you want to do it more directly.'"

Annabeth laughed and Thalia joined in. Laf, however, was folding his arms. "Then she shot off lightning at me. Didn't expect that. So I stepped back a little and talked to her. She told me about you and the problem you were having. And just so you know, there _are_ soldiers and trackers walking on me as we speak."

Annabeth went weightless for a second, then Laf added quickly, "They won't find you here. Trust me, I've been here since long before the Ɣletha broke the sea."

_Jeez_. "How old are you?" Annabeth asked.

Laf winked. "You mortals change eras and dynasties so much, I lost count. Let me just say I was here before a lot of you creatures that now walk the earth."

_Okay._

Thalia spoke up. "So can you get rid of them?"

"Kill them," Laf mused. "I could, but then the big guys in the Star Tower would be mad at me. We hill giants aren't opposing them, but we stay neutral as a rule. No messing with mortals. What I can do is deposit you guys at the nearest town. A few miles away is this place called Abal."

"Cool, when can we leave?" Thalia asked. Laf looked at her mischievously. "When you give me your phone number baby."

Thalia, instead of zapping him like Annabeth thought she would, decided to tell him. Laf's face lit up with shock and excitement, as if even _he_ didn't see that coming. As Thalia told him though, Annabeth realized that it wasn't her number at all. Keeping a straight face to prevent laughing, Annabeth waited until Laf got it down (by etching it out on the wall). Then he opened a door to their left. But not before bringing out a bag from the floor.

"Here," he said. "There are some rubies in here. Some are magical and some aren't. I forgot which, so be careful."

Before she could even look into the bag, Thalia grabbed her and they descended into the cave, giving a final wave to Laf.

* * *

Thalia and Annabeth came out the hill hole in front of a pave way. It was metal, but heavily rusted and broken apart in some places. Up ahead were a few people walking around on the sidewalks. They were only just beginning to see the two girls.

Annabeth looked up and down the street until a vendor came up to them saying, "Hey there, little ladies. How would you like to buy Tony's toxic tonic of love. A love potion so strong it could make Aindrious and Xevikyon fight over a girl. Or it could bring together an Ekonde and Kissatouri."

I was about to walk away, but Thalia stated in full seriousness. "Bold words, but I've heard that nothing can make those things happen."

The vendor smiled. "Well little lady, I can't bring Aindrious and Xevikyon back from the grave to demonstrate that, but I can show you the second." He led them a few blocks to a giant fountain that was shooting water at least 20 feet into the air. But that wasn't the most spectacular thing. Seated near the fountain, in front of the setting sun, sat a man and woman. But they weren't regular humans. The lady was obviously a Kissatouri. She had a feral grace around her and had incredibly sharp canines. But the most obvious mark was the 4 foot long tiger tail protruding from her jeans. The man was also obvious. He had on a fedora and was wearing a t-shirt to show off his ripped body. Like the lady next to him, there was a feral aura around him, but what made it even more obvious he was an Ekonde was the fur running up his arms. They were jet black with a mix of silver stripes running throughout it.

Annabeth's breathe sharply stopped. This shouldn't be happening. These two should be at each other's throat, screaming every insult imaginable while they fought to the death. But these two radiated love and gentleness to one another.

The vendor turned to us, his eyes gleaming. "See," he said triumphantly, "my potions are top notch. How many will you want?"

Annabeth was about to remark that they really didn't want anything, but then Thalia said, "One vial, and if this is a scam, so help me. I. Will. Find. You." The vendor looked scared and hurried up to is stand when the couple came up to them. They were both super gorgeous, and Annabeth noticed that the lady was a brunette. _How I wish that I was a brunette._

"Just so you know. He _is_ a sham vendor, but he's actually an amazing psychologist." The Ekonde spoke with light accent.

Thalia narrowed her blue eyes, charged with electrical fury. "I don't understand how this is of any concern to someone like **you**," Thalia hissed. "But I can't see how consoling can cause you two to let go of a thousand year old hatred."

Cat lady bared her fangs. "I admit it seems unlikely. Our troubles at the beginning were hard to overcome."

The guy snorted. "Uiah, you tried to rip my throat out the moment I said hi."

At that, she snorted. "Well you asked for it. But that's another story for another time. The point is my wolf in shining fur Jordan here was tenacious enough to bring me to his side, and Mr. Frost was very helpful with that."

Thalia was getting restless, "Whatever. Annabeth lets go, this is getting boring."

They walked away quickly, and it occurred to Annabeth suddenly that she had no idea where to go. She turned around to the couple and asked, "Just wondering. Can you tell us where we can get some food or something?"

"Well," said Jordan. "I like Tom's pub but today there are soldiers all over the place. There's Juru's Pub nearby. Just go in this direction." He said pointing right.

That got Annabeth's attention. She remembered the pub from the night before and decided that it was worth a try.

"Thank you," she said to Uiah and Jordan. "Let's go Thalia."

Thalia walked up and as they turned to go they heard, "Where are you ladies going? I got the tonic." They turned and saw the vendor from before. He was holding a glowing silver liquid vial. "It will be 217 Loti Miss."

"217," said Thalia. "For some quack medicine witchcraft. Fuck You." Then grabbing Annabeth's hand and pushing the old man out of their way, they went on down the street to Juru's pub.

As they walked, Annabeth noticed that the streets were all made of rusted metal, as if a project had begun and then a rust storm had come and drove all the workers away. Vagabonds were all over and the houses were rundown. What was worse is that if they weren't so run down and rusted, she would think this was some of the best architecture she had seen. She could see that gold had once lined the border of the walk paths, and there were lamps that, though broken, had a luster to their metal that the rust couldn't dim. It could only distract.

Thalia, as usual, spoke what Annabeth was thinking. "I wonder what happened to make a place look like this."

"I know. It's so freaking depressing." Annabeth thought. "This place looks like it could have been a really nice place to live. Thalia what are you doing?"

Annabeth made a huge huff at her friend, who was currently taking copper and gold from the light posts. "What?" Thalia said innocently.

"Put it back," Annabeth said at once.

"But it's good for condicting lightning. Plus no one cares."

"Put it back."

"But I can hawk it and make us some serious Loti booty."

"Put."

"Annabeth!"

"It."

"You know you want some."

"Back."

"We can even get you some books from over there." She said pointing at a shop behind Annabeth that said "Mascol's Books."

Annabeth was still about to say no, but then she stopped. She had a skill of honing in on any book store within view. If she wasn't able to see that store before Thalia, there was a serious problem.

"That store hadn't been there before," Annabeth said suspiciously. "Something's up." Then, taking long strides to the shop, she put on her cap and slowly came closer to the window. Just as she was about to look in, she heard Thalia call out, "What the fuck is that?"

Annabeth turned and shrieked. She _never_ shrieked, but she never saw this thing. It had the sickly green glowing shell of a tortoise, but it had eight openings. One for each of its hairy, spiky legs. And though the face that was coming towards her wasn't that of a spider, its skull had enough eye openings to make Annabeth think it was the skeleton of a spider. What was worse was the sense of dread that radiated from the turtle. It made every depressing thought Annabeth ever thought hit her with such force she almost fell over.

As it came closer to her Annabeth had just enough time to roll out the way of the monster.

"Uh-Uh. You're not getting me today." Annabeth cried before taking out her knife to slash the beast into a thousand and one versions of bone. But as she brought the knife down, a foul odor erupted from the tortoise. It smelled like eight hundred gallons of manure: a smell Annabeth knew more than she wished she did. Then, as she felt like she was about to pass out, a leg came at her with enormous speed and hit Annabeth with a WHACK. Holding on to the leg fast, she was saved from being, as Poppers would describe, "A poor piece of shit stain on somebody's wall."

But the more she held on, the harder it was to stay focused. The monster was thrashing and desperately trying to get Annabeth off of it. The dread radiating from the ting was still making her think that she should give up. In the back of her mind, she wondered what Thalia was doing, but for now she focused on what to do next.

_Let's see,_ Annabeth thought, _getting off is obviously out. I dropped my knife, Thalia isn't helping much, and I don't know anything about this thing._ A sudden sadness came over Annabeth. It was as if her mind was telling her to give up. _I can't do this. I'm too weak. Everyone thinks so. Let me just let it kill me on its spikes._ Then Annabeth got an idea. On all of the monster's legs, there were small spikes. While she didn't know for sure if her plan would work she summoned up every ounce of wits and coordination she had to climb up the leg to a spike. It felt like her old training days when she use to ride horse while avoiding fire. Not easy then. Not easy now.

Still she was grateful for all that training as she was finally able to grab hold of the spike and, with as much strength as possible, rip it off and slam it back into the Spider-turtle's leg. The monster stopped, whether in shock or pain Annabeth didn't know, but she then used it's distraction to pull the thing out and jab it into any part of its underbelly. The monster began to thrash again, but it was in vain. Eventually it went to crash into a building and died.

Or at least, Annabeth thought it died. The green energy around the shell had ceased any glowing and the aura around the monster was less grave.

"Congratulations Anna," Thalia said. She then came up to give Annabeth a big bear hug.

Annabeth pushed her off. "Where the hell were you? I almost got eviscerated by that thing."

"Chillax Annabeth. I was trying to hit it with my new super lightning, but it was completely immune. So when I was about to move around and poke it in the rump," Thalia said while playing the action out with her spear, "I saw you on top of everything. Or I guess I should say on the bottom of it. Either way, you handled it like a boss and I couldn't be more proud of you."

Annabeth blushed at the praise. Although Thalia was her best friend, she was much more likely to punch someone than hug someone.

"If you're trying to distract me Thals…"

"No one's trying to do shit."

"Actually we're trying to arrest you if you don't mind."

Annabeth turned to see an officer in dark uniform and an angry disposition that matched his tone. "You ladies have caused the destruction of property and are engaging in under aged rough housing with the supernatural. A clear violation of article 3.14 of the Abal constitution."

Thalia turned to Annabeth and mouthed, "Rough housing?"

Annabeth shrugged, trying to keep her cool. The guy had a group of other officers coming towards them. Annabeth knew it would be bad if they were arrested. It would mean that Thalia would be immediately identified by any soldiers from Ombos who were with the police and that wouldn't do. Just when she thought they would have to fight, a cry came from over by the fight scene.

"Officer. Someone's been murdered. It's a travesty. A mockery. A scandalous disgrace on this town." The voice was super dramatic and for a second Annabeth thought that it was made up. The officer seemed to think that to, because he was still approaching Annabeth; that is until more calls came.

"Someone's dead."

"Hold me mommy."

"Terrorists."

"Will somebody protect the children?"

"He's dead. And he smells."

"So people _DO _release their bowels."

"I wasn't kidding about the terrorists."

The officer couldn't ignore all of this so he turned to investigate, but not before saying, "Stay right there." Annabeth and Thalia nodded. As soon as his back was turned, Annabeth immediately put on her invisibility cap and Thalia broke out at record speed.

They ran for a few minutes until they were too tired. Then when Annabeth was sure that they were out of harm's way, she took off her cap. It almost shocked Thalia right out of her boots.

_Boots,_ Annabeth thought. _Since when did she have boots_?

In fact, Thalia was in a totally different outfit. She was decked out in black leather pants and a dark blue blouse, _THALIA IN A BLOUSE_. But the surprise didn't end there. She had on an electric blue bracelet around her right hand that had a few dangling jewels from the sack Laf gave them. She looked gorgeous.

"Thalia…When did you…?"

Thalia held her hand up. "Don't be mad. But you know how I said I didn't help because I knew you had it. Well, that's partially true."

"PARTIALLY TRUE," Annabeth yelled, but Thalia held her hand up again. "Now you see. Why do we have to go to that voice level already? I have faults Annabeth. Sometimes I leave milk out, sometimes I steal your clothes, and sometimes I leave you to fight deadly monsters. I'm working on myself and I need you to support me."

Annabeth was getting more annoyed by the second. "Thalia. How. Did. You. Get. Those. Clothes?"

"Stole them from a clothing store when all the people left out because of the monster. This bracelet is gold that this gem," she said pointing to a blazing sapphire dangling on it. "Turned blue. The gold and the power sapphire make my powers stronger." Then more softly, "I think."

"You think?"

"Yep."

"So basically, we're in possession of _very_ stolen material in a place where at any moment, soldiers could come and arrest us. _And_ they would have a genuine reason for it."

"Well it isn't that bad. I can just call Laf."

"No. We need to find out how to get to Claymore eventually, not just hide in a hill hole."

Annabeth looked around. This was a much different forest from the one they were in just this morning. Whereas the other forest was bright green from Evergreen Bay, this forest was a mossy shade of brown. It almost made Annabeth sick.

"Hey. You try maintaining an entire magical forest for ten years. I forget to clean up sometimes."

Annabeth and Thalia turned around to find a short stump of a man. Barely four feet, he didn't even reach Annabeth's chest, but he was walking towards them as if they were his servants. He was covered in grassy the same mossy shade as the rest of the forest.

"Now give me a good reason why I don't banish you from my forest. Or even better, keep you here as slaves for illegally transporting. And for thinking all that smack about my Garden Ms. Annabeth Chase, I can't think of many reasons why I shouldn't think those things."

Annabeth was stunned at this little guy. He was so bossy.

Once again, Thalia spoke what Annabeth thought. "Look Mr. Bossy. We have to places to be and people to talk to. You aren't one of them. So why don't you just go to wherever you came from and-"

Before Thalia could finish, vines laced with thorns shot out all around them. Reflexes had allowed Annabeth and Thalia to jump out of the way, but there were so many that they just jumped into another entanglement. The pain of the thorns digging in was excruciating.

"I swear you little bitch," Thalia said before the vines fully covered her mouth. "If you don't watch your back I'm shove you into the darkest part Inma-Sauda."

"Shut your mouth little missy. I still haven't decided what to do with you."

Annabeth wanted desperately to let him know what she wanted to do with _him_, but she knew better. He apparently was more powerful than she thought, and it would be much smarter to flatter him.

"Look, sir. I know we trespassed on your forest-"

"I prefer you call it a garden actually."

"Of course. We promise if you let us go, we won't ever come to your garden again. It's just that we really need to get to Claymore and your garden was the quickest transportation to get anywhere. Please sir."

"No need to call me sir. My name is Nome the Mossy-King."

"Mossy-King?" Thalia asked.

_So he let her mouth free. Good, that's progress, I hope. Please don't mess this up Thalia._

"Yes Mossy-King," Nome said proudly. "All flora and fauna in my domain are completely under my control. This garden is my home and the plants are my children." He then moved to a trodden flower and picked it up. He spoke a few words and put it back on the ground. Several seconds later, it was completely healed.

"Poor Suzie was almost dead when I healed her. Not to mention all my other children."

"We're sorry your Mossiness." Annabeth said quickly while Thalia rolled her eyes. "Can you please take an offering from us to go through your territory?"

Nome narrowed his eyes before he gave a small chuckle and snapped his fingers. Instantly Annabeth and Thalia were released and a grass bed came for them to sit on. "I can't resist to beautiful ladies who actually have manners. What do you have to give?"

Annabeth was about to look through her bag for something when Thalia out of nowhere pulled a gem from her bracelet. "How's this Nome?"

Nome looked at it before his eyes popped open wide. "This craftsmanship. This was from long before the Selja days. This was before the Qinixi came back to Chania. How did you get this?"

"From our friend Laf." Thalia said nonchalantly. At that Nome looked like he had constipation.

"Laf? Of course I know him. The best friend I have here. Why didn't you just say you knew him before entering? Heck I'll do you one better than just allowing you access through my forest. Hold on."

Nome left and came back a few minutes later with a large bundle of clothes, herbs and other things. He then spoke some more words in an enchantment I had never heard. Immediately the dirt around him gathered together and turned into a dark brown pack. "There's something about my mossy material you should know. It is teleporting material. Any mossy material you wear will allow you to instantly transport to my domain. Any attack that comes towards you can be teleported to my forest, but be warned. My powers aren't that strong and I _will not_ allow fire or fire causing attack to enter my forest. Stray arrows and knife slashes, sure. Also, anything you put into this bag will transport into the soil of my garden and be kept clean and like brand new, so you can put anything you want here."

Annabeth and Thalia were stunned, but Nome wasn't finished. "Now stand still, I'm gather some energy to transport you into Claymore."

At that Thalia spoke up. "Look man, we're grateful and all. But seriously this is out of nowhere. One minute you're talking about making us slaves, and the next you're doing all these things for us. What gives? And how do you know Laf. And how can you transport and all this other stuff."

At these questions, Laf took on a dark look. "These are all questions I feel are very personal," he said slowly. "Questions that get close to a past where I was young and dumb. Just believe me when I say that I am a man of my word, I'll take you to claymore I promise."

Before they could say anything else, Nome closed his eyes, said a few more words, and Annabeth and Thalia had an out-of-body experience.

* * *

When Thalia and Annabeth came to, they were in the middle of a table. Whereas before in Nome's garden it had been cold and damp, now it was scolding hot, even though the moon was high in the sky. Then when she looked around, Annabeth saw why.

They were in forge. They were surrounded by weapons and Annabeth was amazed at the quality of them. Gleaming broadswords and scabbards were lining the walls and spears of the brightest and sharpest metal were set up on the tables. What got Annabeth though was that on each weapon there was a symbol of three stars in a ring with a hammer placed on top of it.

_The symbol of Claymore Annabeth thought_. Then a noise came.

"Mike, I'm telling you I heard something from in there."

"Fanghorn, will you cut the BS. I want to get some sleep."

Then all of a sudden, the door behind them opened and in came to gnomes. The both wore pointy hats, but whereas the gnome with the pimply face and brown beard wore a sleeping cap, the other gnome had a clear brown face with a pointy red workers cap. They both, however, had looks of shock when they laid eyes on Annabeth.

In that moment Annabeth wanted to take Thalia and grab a spear off the table, but she knew that was absolute stupidity. A gnome was much more likely to forgive you for killing their brother in war than for taking one of their weapons as a joke: let alone to use against them.

"Well, well, well," said the clear face gnome. "What do we have here?"


End file.
